Ford Mocks Tesla Model 3 Production Milestone

It’s no secret Tesla has struggled to reach its production targets. This week was a cause for celebration however, as Elon Musk delivered his promise to produce 5,000 Model 3s per week before the end of June. In addition, Tesla also produced 2,000 Model S and Model X vehicles the same week, resulting in a total of about 7,000 vehicles produced in a single week. Now the goal is to produce 6,000 Model 3s per week in July. Of course, these numbers are paltry compared to the production capacity of mainstream automakers.

While Musk tweeted a message congratulating the team for meeting the production goal, Ford Europe chief executive Steven Armstrong mocked Tesla's production milestone by comparing it to Ford’s production in just a few hours. “7000 cars, circa 4 hours,” he said in a tongue-in-cheek Tweet directed at Musk. This isn’t the first time Ford and Tesla has taken potshots at each other. Just last week, Musk compared the energy at Ford’s production facilities to a “morgue” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Ford’s comeback? “No doubt the vibe is funky in that “makeshift tent,” Mark Truby, Ford’s vice president of communications, tweeted.

But it’s not bad either across the street at the #FordRouge plant where a high quality, high-tech F-150 rolls off the line every 53 seconds like clockwork. Come check it out @elonmusk #BuiltFordTough.” But Ford is perhaps missing the point. Yes, Ford produces more cars every day than Tesla does in a month, but Tesla is building and, perhaps more importantly, selling more electric cars than Ford. If anything, Ford is playing catch up to Tesla in the EV segment. To be fair though, Ford is planning an EV assault. By 2022, the Blue Oval will invest $11 billion into electrification and launch 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles.